Can you guess, I got my rate notice. They come half yearly now, to try to disguise just how much it costs us for so little. We do get 3 hours of mobile library 48 times a year, on Friday when everyone is at work, but I can't think of anything else.

Spread across the top of the self promotional blurb that comes with it in very large letters is the boast that this year 90% will pay only 3% increase over the last notice, & they must think this is good. God help the other 10%.

3% in 6 months is of course 6% PA. With the current inflation rate of 2.1% that means our rates are up 3.75 times the rate of general inflation.

Since buying this property 25 years ago my rates have gone up at an annual average of 19.6%, so I guess I should be happy that this year is only a mild rip off.

If they continued at almost 20% increase PA I wonder how long it will be before my council rates will exceed my gross income?

No please don't post the answer. I could do it myself of course, but haven't to avoid even greater depression than I'm feeling now.

Hassy, you are lucky you haven't got the incompetent Coalition government we have here in NSW. Primer Gladys Bignose today announced another multi million dollar back flip. After spending millions trying to force through local government amalgamations, the Primer today announced its all off, back to square one. Bugger the taxpayer, what's a few million between friends.

Yesterday the ICAC released its findings into years of serious multi million dollar corruption by senior employees in the small Sydney council of Botany Bay located between the City and Port Botany. Can't blame the Liberals for that one, with the Labor Party having total control of the council through manipulation, which seen now state MP Ron Hoenig heading an all Labor council for years. Hoenig was mayor for 28 years straight, until he filled the former Primer Kristina Keneally local seat of Heffron. Who stepped into the Botany Council Mayoral chair, none other than Ben Kennally, hubby of Kristina.
Botany Bay Council has been amalgamated with Rockdale Council to form the new Bayside Council. The only bright light to come out of the whole sorry council amalgamation saga.

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/5-million-in-bogus-invoices-icac-finds-former-botany-bay-cfo-11-others-acted-corruptly-20170726-gxiw8x.html

It very much depends on where you live. I live in a huge rural LGA with a population density of about 0.25 per sq km, my sister lives in a geographically tiny north Sydney LGA with a population density of about 3000 per sq km.

Guess who pays the most rates? The reasons are obvious: out here there are few ratepayers but an awful lot of dirt roads to maintain, as well as all the necessary services; in the city, there are a lot of ratepayers, but it's all built up and there are no dirt roads, so individually each ratepayer there pays less.

I do sympathise about your library service, we have an excellent one, with three branches in spite of out small population, the main one open four weekdays and Saturday morning. But cheer up, you say that 'everyone is at work' on Fridays, so your LGA must have a far better employment rate than mine, and few retirees.

Local Government is unbelievable.

Mine certainly is.

They've just identified that there's no mental health
programs for young people in our area. And Council is now
working with Headspace to bring a dedicated program to our
City. The 2017 Community Ball on 13 October will be dedicated
to raising money to get the program into our area.

Headspace is the National Youth Mental Health Foundation
providing early intervention mental health services to
12 - 25 year olds. The service is designed to make it as easy
as possible for a young person and their family to get the
help they need for problems affecting their well being.
This covers four core areas: mental health, physical health,
work and study support, and alcohol and other drug services.

Mental health is a real and growing issue and I am glad that
our Council is starting to help make a difference in this
space in our community.

Also, after identifying a need to upgrade local sporting
reserves to help meet the demand for soccer facilities due
to increased participation levels, our city now boasts a
state-of-the-art synthetic soccer pitch for local clubs,
schools and the community to enjoy.

Council officers have also been working with our city's
RSL members to prepare a landscape plan to enhance the
appearance and accessibility of our city's RSL site.
Landscaping works are well under way and will be completed
later this year. This RSL is beautifully maintained by
volunteers. Additional lighting, new flagpoles, planting,
path improvements and interactive educational elements will
assist to transform the site into a vibrant and welcoming
space to stop and rest or sit and reflect.

Council is working with bus operator, Transdev, and Public
Transport Victoria to investigate the feasibility of upgrading
bus services in our city to a Bus Rapid Transit standard.

As part of the recent $21.4 million refurbishment of our city's
premier Aquatic and Leisure Centre, the centre now has a new
stand-alone gym with a range of exciting and energising group
exercise classes.

Surely it is time for councils ('government' is a joke) to go. The people involved have no deal power - they are just meddlers off the street - and it should be a small matter for any real government to wipe them out; they would have no protesting fans.

cont'd ...

I won't go into all the details of what our Council
does or about the fantastic libraries in our area,
the hospitals, the aged-care facilities, the
retirement villages, the shopping centres, the huge
parks, the superb children's play areas, the nature
reserves, the lakes, the schools, and the choice
of the many activities that are available to the
Community that our hard-working Council provides.

Suffice to say that our high rates are worth every
dollar that we pay. I would not live anywhere else.

ttbn: Local government is not perfect. I could complain at length about mine, as well as award some brownie points. But the alternative - rule from Sydney, nearly 1000km away, would be much, much worse.

Try sitting through a 'consultation' meeting with people from the big smoke: 'oh, you poor things, you sooo isolated out here, but we know what to do to help you!' At one such meeting the locals got so annoyed that we ganged up: 'this is the heartland, you poor things, sooo isolated on the coastal fringe, we'll have to come over and sort your problems out.'

I attended another meeting in an adjacent LGA about an on-going issue. After the state bureaucrats went through their spiel - what we're going to do to help you - a guy in the audience got up with a sheaf of papers. 'Back in 2004, so-and-so from the department consulted about this and proposed to do x, then in 2009, another state official (naming him) consulted and proposed to do y, then in 2012 etc. How is your proposal different to previous ones, and what chance is there that this will eventuate when none of the others have? The consulting group were highly embarrassed, knew nothing about the previous events, and had clearly not done their homework. We drank the tea and ate the biscuits, sighed, wondered how long before they'd be back with another plan, and went home.

ttbn, be careful what you wish for!

I hate it how people use the word 'unbelieveable' to try to draw attention to something that is completely believable.

Yes Cossomby, I was on the water advisory committee, [WAMP], but I have no idea what that stands for. This was for the Logan & Albert river basins.

The rubbish started when that grinning fool Beattie ran Brisbane out of water. For anyone with a brain it was obvious the whole thing was designed to rip any water that farmers were still getting, or the Beaudesert/Greenbank residents, & send it to Brisbane.

They had already stolen the water from farmers downstream of Boonah, & sent it off to the Greenbank power station, to save Wivenhoe water. Of course farmers were still paying $20,000 a year for access to that water, but had not had any for over 2 years.

This went on for a couple of years, with the bureaucrats getting more desperate in trying to package a rip off of our water, in some sugar pill to make it palatable.

He spent billions on the water grid, which can't transfer water from Wivenhoe to the Gold Coast, only from the Gold Coast to Brisbane or Wivenhoe.

Then it rained, Brisbane was flooded, & we haven't heard another thing in 6 years. You are lucky to be far enough away to make it hard for them to come & raid you.

Go to Know Your Rights Group and learn about your rights and the unconstitutional council and learn how to fight back.